Elbow at The Danforth Music Hall - Concert Pictures

Manchester band Elbow made a long-overdue stop at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall on November 6. I caught the band live for the first time about three and a half years back and it was a transformative experience. Photos from that show are here.

I'm so glad I got to experience that live magic again. As I tweeted on the day of the show, they're one of the best live bands out there, mostly because of the moving nature of experiencing their emotional tunes in a community. Singing along with Elbow's moving melodies is pretty much mandatory. You're encouraged to sing along if you know the words. And if you don't know the words? Sing along anyway!

The music, lyrics and melodies are so rousing, anthemic and uplifting. The arena and festival sized choruses that build and build in intensity are perfect for any live concert venue. Songs from their latest album Little Fictions mixed in with older classics that will no doubt appear on their Best Of album which comes out November 24. As the band played, lives changed. Up in the front, Juan and Lydia got engaged. Guy congratulated them and we all sang for them. Sadly, not much rhymes with Lydia.

As my favourite live Elbow tune states, one day like this a year would see me right. However, one day like this every three and a half years is too long! Let's hope they come back to Toronto soon and share another beautiful setlist like this one.

Please enjoy some of my favourites from their set.

"Any Day Now"

"The Bones of You"

"Magnificent (She Says)"

"All Disco"

"The Birds"

"My Sad Captains"

"New York Morning"

Set closer and one of the most uplifting tunes to belt out with around 1,500 of your closest friends, "One Day Like This". Here's a clip recorded at this very show.

First song of the encore, "Lippy Kids"

And the closed out the night with one of my favourites, the powerful "Grounds for Divorce"

New song from Elbow's Guy Garvey called Angela's Eyes

Elbow's Guy Garvey has a solo album on the way for an October 30 release. It's going to be called Courting the Squall and here's the first single is "Angela's Eyes". Enjoy Guy's distinctive voice over the tom-heavy drums and lightly funky guitar lines, along with keyboard riffing reminiscent of a James Bond theme. Nice!

Guy had this to say about the making of the album. "elbow graciously gave me some time to write a solo album. I’ve wanted to try for years and I’m really proud of it. ‘Solo’ because I wrote everything but I was far from alone. I invited my favourite players outside of elbow (many of them also my favourite people) and we moved fast, drank a lot and had what can only be described as a massive laugh along the way."

New Elbow song - What Time Do You Call This?

Elbow is a band that's been on my radar and in my collection for many years, but it wasn't until I saw them live at the Danforth Music Hall that I really "got it".

This band, that creates such moving and beautiful music, has a new tune for us to enjoy. It's called "What Time Do You Call This?" and it's from the new Simon Pegg film Man Up. The soundtrack album comes out May 25 and the film is out in the UK on May 29.

Give it a listen:

New Elbow video for Charge

When I saw Elbow at The Danforth Music Hall, they opened their set with the fantastic tune "Charge" from their latest release, The Take Off And Landing Of Everything. Now they've got a video for that same fantastic tune. Check it out:

In the time between my post on their Toronto show and now, they also released a video for "Real Life (Angel)". Take a peek:

My post on their show, featuring the rest of my Elbow pics, is right here.

Elbow at The Danforth Music Hall

Elbow are an interesting act for me. I like lots of their stuff. But as one can see from a quick trip around this site or through the list of tags on the side, I tend to go for bands on the less mellow side of life. But when I heard they were playing Toronto, I had to go see them. When their show at The Danforth Music Hall quickly sold out, I just knew I was in for a treat.

I suspected that Elbow would be a band that would excel in the live environment. While their quiet songs can sometimes fade into the background on the subway or in the home, the volume and attention commanded by the music in the concert environment paid off in an understanding of just how incredible the songs are. Guy Garvey is the kind of singer who holds his fans in the palm of his hand with his presence, lyrics and immaculately emotive melodies. There was something about the sombre beauty of the stone angel looking down on the band and the crowd that fit the mood of the show perfectly.

Another wonderful thing I discovered is that we've got a talented audience in Toronto. Two key highlights for me were "Grounds for Divorce", probably my favourite Elbow song, and the last song of the night,"One Day Like This", both because of their incredible sing-alongs. "One Day Like This" was especially beautiful because of the extended sing-along, but also because of the quality of the crowd's singing. When Guy instructed them to harmonize, it happened! The audience at The Danforth Music Hall turned into a choir singing the rousing chorus of "Throw those curtains wide / One day like this a year would see me right". Absolute perfection.

Check out some highlights from the set below:
"Charge" from their newest, The Take Off And Landing Of Everything

"The Bones of You" from 2008's The Seldom Seen Kid

"New York Morning" from The Take Off And Landing Of Everything

"Grounds for Divorce" from The Seldom Seen Kid

Set closer "My Sad Captains" from The Take Off And Landing Of Everything

Encore tunes "Lippy Kids" from 2011's Build a Rocket Boys! and

"One Day Like This" from The Seldom Seen Kid. Just imagine around 1,400 people harmonizing on this tune.

New Elbow

Elbow have got a new album on the way and North American tour dates. I was lucky enough to have a ticket secured for me before the Toronto show sold out. Side rant: They really have to figure out a better way to sell tickets so that we all feel that we have a chance at them. Some shows seem to sell out so fast that it feels like they only had 50 tickets to sell to the general public.

The new Elbow album comes out March 10 and it's called The Take Off and Landing of Everything. Deep. Here's the new single, "New York Morning". Beautiful, as you would expect.

And "Fly Boy Blue/ Lunette"